Providence-class assault carrier
The 'Providence-class assault carrier, '''also known as the '''Providence-class carrier/destroyer, '''the '''Confederate '''or '''Separatist Star Destroyer '''or '''dreadnought, '''was a series of ship models used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems Navy during the First Galactic Civil War, also known as the Clone Wars. Description Dimensions The Providence-class was a sizable and sturdy 1088-meter-long class of cylindrical warships produced by the Pammant Docks operated by the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, with a pointed nose that tapered towards the superstructure. The upscaled variant, known and advertised as the Separatist Dreadnought, was even more immense, reaching 2177 meters in length; these models were known to only require a small escort fleet to singlehandedly commence and hold a planetary blockade. They were also built with the ability to land on and launch from large bodies of water, such as oceans. Modular compartments Providences were very easy, cheap, and quick to modify, thanks to the presence of inbuilt modular compartments. Because of this, the Galactic Republic Navy often encountered a Providence that could outrun their ships thanks to an engine upgrade, or one that had its hangar bay ripped out entirely in favor of laser and turbolaser cannons, and was esssentially a flying gun battery, or one that had most of its hull converted into large starfighter hangar areas. The flagship of General Grievous for much of the First Galactic Civil War, the ''Invisible Hand, was a famous example of a heavily modified Providence. Crew Providences were typically crewed and maintained by six hundred droids and commanded by an organic officer, although some were instead commanded by the T-series tactical or super tactical droids, for when organic leadership was unavailable. Offensive and defensive systems Numerous and various weapons emplacements dotted the surface of Providences. Twelve point-defense ion cannons protected against starfighters, and a plethora of side-mounted flak guns, heavy ion cannons, dual laser cannons, and quad turbolaser batteries were tailored specifically for ship-to-ship broadsides. A total of one-hundred-two proton torpedo tubes arranged around the bow were geared towards a full frontal assault. They also had decent shielding and heavy armor for a ship of its size. Much like the Venator-class assault carrier, they were also capable of directing most of their reactor output towards weapons systems; a single point-defense ion cannon at full power was capable of producing enough energy to equal that of a 4.8 megaton explosion. Complement A standard Providence typically carried two-hundred-forty droid starfighters, including Vulture and Hyena battle droids and droid tri-fighters, although some were modified to be able to carry well over a thousand. They also carried at least four-hundred-forty ground vehicles and droids, including Multi-Troop Transports and well over a million deactivated battle droids of various types, as a vanguard of sorts for ground invasions, and also carried eight transport shuttles. Propulsion systems The ships were propelled by three Creveld-4 radial ion drive thruster engines and featured an advanced Class 1.5 hyperdrive. Bridge tower Akin to other Confederate vessels like the Recusant-class destroyer, the command center of a Providence was located in a forward-facing tower on the bow, although some of these warships were modified to feature the command center in the center of the ship or on the communications and sensor pod on the tall spire situated at the stern. History Background and pre-Clone Wars conflicts When the Quarren defected from the ocean world of Dac and sparked the Mon Cala Civil War, they founded the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps on Pammant, establishing vast shipyards on and around the planet and, using Rendili StarDrive's Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser design as a basis, improved and enlarged the design several times to create the Providence-class assault carrier, to be delivered to the then-nascent Confederacy of Independent Systems to be used in many conflicts and civil wars that directly predated the Clone Wars. The ships also served a more ulterior motive: to mask the construction of the immense Subjugator-class battlecruisers. Confederate service in the First Galactic Civil War Now aligned with the Confederacy, the Quarren pledged almost every Providence they had to the cause and war effort. The ships' firepower, maneuverability, and durability were capitalized on by competent commanders in the Confederate Navy, such as the Harch Admiral Trench, who used a modified dreadnought variant dubbed the Invincible. ''These ships often proved problematic to similarly-sized Republic warships like the Venator-class assault carrier and Victory-class Star Destroyer. They were first used to great effect alongside the rebuilt Sabaoth Squadron in the first weeks of the war, including the Geonosis Campaign and the Siege of Naboo. Throughout the duration of the war, Providences would be used extensively as command ships for many defensive and offensive operations, such as Operation Durge's Lance, where the Gen'Dai commander Durge himself, growing impatient with the stalled invasion of Loedorvia, rammed ''Durge's Lance, ''a Providence that served as his flagship, into the heavily populated ecumenopolis planet as a means to force an unconditional surrender, before the entire Weemell sector itself was depopulated and rendered uninhabitable by the release of the Brainrot Plague. During 19 BBY, production of these warships was severely stunted in the aftermath of the botched Battle of Pammant, where the desperate commander of the Republic Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser ''Quaestor, ''after the ship's hyperdrive was destroyed by torpedo droids, ordered all hands to abandon ship as he and the warship collided with the planet at full speed, destroying the Pammant Docks and fracturing Pammant itself to its core and polluting its atmosphere with radiation. Service in the Time of Unrest, Second Galactic Civil War, and beyond At least one Providence-class ship was used by Gizor Delso's restored Confederate Navy against an Imperial invasion force during the Battle of Mustafar of 15 BBY. Several ships, along with a myriad of other Clone Wars-era warships, fell into the hands of criminal organizations, such as the Zann Consortium. At least one heavily modified Providence, the command ship ''Rebel One, was in service with the Alliance to Restore the Republic, where it was present during an Imperial ambush at Tingel Deepspace Besh and was destroyed shortly afterwards. Providences were known to still be operated by roving Mandalorian clans and the government of Mandalore well into the time of the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion of the galaxy. Category:Ships Category:Naval warfare